Brazil has opened criminal proceedings against former leaders Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff for allegedly receiving bribes with money diverted from state-owned oil giant Petrobras. The Workers Party (PT) of the two ex-presidents has strongly denied the charges, calling them a “scandalous maneuver” with partisan motives.
Venezuela’s former national treasurer admitted receiving over one billion dollars in bribes as part of illicit foreign currency operations that involved a local television mogul now indicted in U.S. courts, according to U.S. court documents unsealed on Tuesday.
Renault has appointed a temporary deputy chief executive to take over the running of the French car firm following the arrest of Carlos Ghosn. Renault said its chief operating officer, Thierry Bolloré, would step up to the role because Mr. Ghosn was temporarily incapacitated.
Brazil's incoming justice and security minister Sergio Moro announced on Tuesday he was recruiting part of his team from the massive “Car Wash” anti-corruption probe that snared former president Lula da Silva. Moro said he would be a “fool” not to work again with people he had worked with on the Car Wash investigation as they “have already proven their integrity and efficiency.”
Argentina ex-president and Senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will retain her parliamentary immunity for the rest of the year following the ruling coalition's Senate block failed attempt on Tuesday afternoon to address the issue.
The Territorial Asylum right under which Peru's former President Alan García seeks to protect himself, investigated by the Justice of his country, is framed in a convention signed in Caracas, Venezuela that provides that every State belonging to the Organization of American States (OAS) has the right to admit “the persons it deems appropriate.” Garcia's hope is based on Uruguay's record of respect for this right.
Japanese authorities have arrested Carlos Ghosn, chairman of the Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., for allegedly understating his personal income on financial statements thus violating the country's financial law, it was reported Monday.
Police arrested a controlling shareholder of meatpacker JBS SA and two former Brazilian agriculture ministers on Friday in connection with an investigation into illegal campaign contributions. Joesley Batista, a member of the family that founded the world's largest meat processor, is expected to be held only temporarily, his lawyer André Callegari said. He declined to elaborate on the arrest order or the investigation.
Right-wing President-elect Jair Bolsonaro vowed in a tweet on Thursday to investigate Brazil’s state-run national development bank, BNDES, for corruption by opening its “black box” of secret transactions. BNDES is the largest development lender in the Americas with a loan book larger than the World Bank’s.
Following the arrests of four people, authorities in Argentina have uncovered how a former president may have used bribe money to buy U.S. properties, including luxury condos in New York City and South Florida.